I dont know anything about the snow king, but I own 6.5 hp briggs intek which is about 8 years old and also a tecumseh hh70 which is a 7 hp L head that is 30 years old. The briggs starts better because the engine is easier to turn over. If your man enough to pull the rope either one will start on the first or second pull.

Larry

Big: Have an Old ( 2000) 10Hp Snow King in a Craftsman Blower . I use Synthetic Amsoil in it and it still runs like a Champ . Actually rather easy starting even here in the Great White North . I only once used the electric start when my Son Flooded it . When it finally quits the Honda will have xtra work , but the Ole Girl appears to have a quite a few yrs still left lol .

I just cleaned and rebuilt the carb on a 10HP Snow King yesterday. It was the worst I had ever seen. Anything steel was rusted, but it ran like a champ when I was done.

I know my old Gilson from around '78 was a 4 or 5 HP Briggs and it still runs like a champ to this day. Sold it to a friend a few years back.

Your absolutely right Bay , keep them Old Timers maintained and you have a rather trustworthy unit . The Plus with the older units is that they are built much stronger than much of the Box Store Stuff . I have cheap units in every week that I would not rely on for more than 3-4 yrs normal service . Just Junk from the get go lol :)